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Biomedical subjects

R G Wilkinson

Publications and source records attributed to R G Wilkinson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Family conflict and slow growth.

AIMS: Having previously observed that slow growth in childhood is associated with subsequent labour market disadvantage, an attempt was made to determine whether family conflict is associated with slow growth to age 7 years, independently of material disadvantage. METHODS: A total of 6574 children born between 3 and 9 March 1958 who were members of the British National Child Development Study were used in these analyses. Slow growth at age 7 years was indicated by short stature defined as the lowest fifth of the height distribution. In multivariate analysis, adjustment was made for fully attained adult height as a measure of genetically predetermined height. RESULTS: A total of 31.1% of children who had experienced family conflict were of short stature compared with 20.2% of those who had not, representing relative odds of 1.79 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39 to 2.30). After adjustment for social class, crowding, sex, and predetermined height, the relative odds were slightly reduced to 1.62 (95% CI 1.18 to 2.23). A total of 44.0% of children from the most crowded households were of short stature compared with 16.4% of those from the least crowded. The unadjusted relative odds were 3.99 (95% CI 2.94 to 5.41) and after adjustment for the potential confounding variables they were 3.07 (95% CI 2.08 to 4.51). Low social class was also a risk for short stature at age 7 years, but this was not statistically significant after adjustment for the other confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: Family conflict during childhood was independently associated with slow growth to age 7 years.

Body Height↗
PubMed1996

Identification of duck T lymphocytes using an anti-human T cell (CD3) antiserum.

Duck lymphocytes have not been classified into cells resembling B or T cells of mammals. Reagents used in the past to identify lymphocyte populations in other species have not been useful for this purpose and antibodies raised to duck immunoglobulin bind in high proportions to blood and organ lymphocytes of ducks as well as to their red blood cells. Here we report that a polyclonal rabbit antiserum reacting to the CD3 marker on human T cells has been used to identify duck T lymphocytes. These antibodies react with the intracytoplasmic portion of the human CD3 epsilon chain (amino acids 156-168), an epitope highly conserved between mammals. Immunohistochemical staining with this antiserum of sections of duck lymphoid organs and FACScan analysis of duck lymphoid cell suspensions identified a population of duck lymphocytes with a staining pattern similar to that seen for mammalian T cells. This anti-human CD3 immunoprecipitated a 23 kDa protein from a duck lymphoblast lysate: a size similar to the human CD3 epsilon chain. This is the first direct identification of duck T lymphocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Divided we fall.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Health Policy↗
PubMed1992

National mortality rates: the impact of inequality?

Although health is closely associated with income differences within each country there is, at best, only a weak link between national mortality rates and average income among the developed countries. On the other hand, there is evidence of a strong relationship between national mortality rates and the scale of income differences within each society. These three elements are coherent if health is affected less by changes in absolute material standards across affluent populations than it is by relative income or the scale of income differences and the resulting sense of disadvantage within each society. Rather than socioeconomic mortality differentials representing a distribution around given national average mortality rates, it is likely that the degree of income inequality indicates the burden of relative deprivation on national mortality rates.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

The IUCD-associated incidence of Actinomyces israelii in the female genital tract.

Cervical swabs and in many cases also intrauterine contraceptive devices were examined from 973 women for the presence of Actinomyces israelii. It was detected in 11.6% of these women, the majority of whom were asymptomatic. The detection, however, of A. israelii in the female genital tract was associated with an almost 4-fold increase in the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), indicating that colonization may progress to an infection in a small number of women. The incidence of A. israelii in the female genital tract of IUCD wearers was more than doubled when the IUCD was worn for longer than 4 years. The type of IUCD worn did not appear to be an important risk factor. Immunofluorescent staining of cervical smears identified 64% of cases. Specific culturing for A. israelii or cytological screening of Papanicolaou smears in addition were required to increase the isolation rate to nearly 90%.

Actinomyces↗
PubMed1988

Antibody development and cellular immune responses in sheep immunized and challenged with Sarcocystis tenella sporocysts.

Four specific-pathogen-free (SPF) sheep were experimentally infected with 10(3) or 10(4) Sarcocystis tenella (syn. S. ovicanis) sporocysts and another two sheep served as uninfected controls. All sheep were challenged 49 days later by infection with 2.5 X 10(5) sporocysts and their humoral and cellular responses to infection and challenge were assessed weekly by enzyme immunoassays and lymphocyte transformation assays. The control sheep died from acute sarcocystosis 29-30 days after challenge, whereas the immunized sheep survived and were protected against acute disease. Specific IgM and IgG antibodies were detected in the immunized sheep from 28 days after infection onwards. Lymphocytes collected before and after challenge did not exhibit any significant differences in their responses to stimulation with S. tenella cystozoite or sporozoite antigens. Furthermore, lymphocytes collected before challenge did not differ from the controls in their responses to stimulation with the mitogens lipopolysaccharide or phytohaemagglutinin. However, lymphocytes collected after challenge did exhibit increased blastogenic responses to stimulation with both mitogens from 21-28 days after challenge onwards. The infected sheep were necropsied 46 days after challenge, and histological and ultrastructural studies revealed numerous infiltrates of lymphocytes, histiocytes and plasma cells in the skeletal muscles, sometimes in association with degenerating parasitic cysts and macrophage myophagia. Parasites were not completely eliminated nor prevented from further establishment, therefore the protective immunity was not sterile but rather a state of premunition.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Interactions between acetylcholinesterase and tetra-N-alkylammonium ions.

A study of the mechanism of interaction of acetylcholinesterase with some simple tetra-N-alkyammonium ions has been made. Kinetic schemes have been proposed which are consistent with the experimental results observed in the enzyme-tetra-N-alkylammonium system in the presence of substrate and in the presence of an organophosphorus inhibitor.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1983

Adult stature and age at menarche in Zapotec-speaking communities in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, in a secular perspective.

Adult stature and the age at menarche among individuals from Zapotec-speaking communities in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico are considered in a secular perspective. Four sets of observations are utilized: 1) adult stature in males and females from five rural communities; 2) age at menarche in adult women and school girls from a single rural community; 3) earlier studies of adult stature in the Valley of Oaxaca; and 4) estimated stature from long bones excavated in various archaeological sites in the Valley of Oaxaca. There were no significant differences among the five communities for stature; hence, the data were pooled for analysis and comparison. Results of linear regression of stature and stature adjusted for the estimated effects of aging after 30 years of age on year of birth indicate negligible secular changes in either sex. Comparisons with statures from earlier surveys, the earliest dates to 1899, also indicate negligible changes. When adult women are grouped according to age, there are no differences in mean ages at menarche between the older and younger women. Mean age at menarche for the total adult sample is 14.53 +/- 0.08 years, which compares favorably with the probit estimate for school girls, 14.70 +/- 0.32 years. These results thus suggest virtually no secular change in adult size and maturity of the Zapotec-speaking population in the Valley of Oaxaca over the past 80 years. Differences in stature between contemporary populations and estimated statures from long bones from several archaeological sites in Oaxaca are small, and thus suggests little secular change over the past one to two-thousand years.

Adult↗